Open Banking UK Turns 8 – And How Australia's Consumer Data Right Can Mirror Uber's Journey To Profitability
- Ben Ford
- Jan 16
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 20
Graph courtesy of RobertBartus via Reddit
[Warning: this is a super-nerdy post that might trigger some people. If you don't like to geek out on Open Banking and Fintech data, it might not be for you.]
So here we are. January 13, 2026.
The UK's Open Banking regime just turned 8 years old. Eight whole years since the Competition and Markets Authority basically told the Big Nine banks: "Right then, open up those APIs or else."
Meanwhile, Australia's Consumer Data Right (CDR) – our version of Open Banking but with added bells, whistles, and aspirations to conquer energy and telco sectors too – celebrating its fifth birthday.
And you know what?
These two milestones sitting side-by-side offer some fascinating insights into what works, what doesn't, and what Australia can learn from the UK's longer journey down this particular rabbit hole.
Let's dig in.
The UK At Year 8: From "We Have To Do This" To "We Actually Want To Do This"
The numbers coming out of the UK's eighth anniversary are, frankly, pretty darned impressive.
16 million active users. That's not a typo. Sixteen million people are now using Open Banking services in the UK. To put that in perspective, that's roughly 24% of the UK population. When they started in 2018, you could count active users in the tens of thousands.
145 authorized third-party providers are now in the ecosystem, all building different services, competing for users, and generally creating the kind of competitive tension that the whole thing was designed to achieve in the first place.
Payment volumes have jumped 53% year-over-year. And here's a fascinating one: Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs) – which let you authorize trusted parties to manage recurring transactions on your behalf – now represent 16% of all Open Banking activity.
Think about that. VRPs weren't even a thing in the early years. Now they're nearly one fifth of the entire Open Banking ecosystem.
1.7 billion API calls per month on average. 22.1 million Open Banking payments processed monthly. These aren't small numbers anymore. This is infrastructure-level stuff.
As Open Banking Limited put it, the system has evolved into "a core part of the UK's financial infrastructure, underpinning innovation, competition, and growth across payments, lending, money management and beyond."
That's quite the transformation from what started as a regulatory stick being waved at reluctant banks.
Australia At Year 5: The Tortoise Strategy
Australia took a different approach from day one.
Instead of just 'doing' Open Banking, we said:
"Nah mate, let's go bigger. Let's create the Consumer Data Right and make it work across banking, energy, telco – the whole lot."
Ambitious? Absolutely.
The Australian model has some genuine advantages. By embedding Open Banking within a broader cross-sectoral framework, we established principles of data portability that could theoretically scale across the entire economy.
We also learned from the UK's early stumbles, building in stronger consumer protections and more comprehensive consent mechanisms right from the start.
But here's the uncomfortable truth: adoption has been slower than anyone expected.
The infrastructure works. The regulatory framework is solid. But consumer awareness and engagement remain... let's call them "ongoing challenges."
Why is this? [and this is just my hot take... so don't sue me]
Screen-scraping still exists in AUS (not in the UK, where it was effectively banned once OB was reliably humming)
The UK included 'payments' (or 'action initiation,' if we're going to keep using non-consumer friendly lingo) from the get-go (over 50% of all UK open banking transactions are payments)
Many AUS banks aren't yet offering an open banking solution to their customers, which means it's hard to demonstrate ROI (a reason often cited for OB's lack of success/traction)
Case in point: ANZ Plus is one bank account that does offer OB to its users via 'account aggregation' (a single view of all of your bank accounts across all banks). It's a pretty nifty feature and works seemlessly - I linked 8 external (to ANZ) accounts in about 8 minutes).
Ubank ((the artist formerly know as 86 400 but previously also known as Ubank (perhaps the OG of digital banks in AU) - I know, it's confusing)) and now owned by NAB - another pretty decent banking app also offers 'account aggregation' but does so via screen scraping, not Open Banking.
Why is a Big 4 bank NOT using Open Banking, but instead offering account aggregation via a method that is unregulated, asks a customer to their their online banking credentials with a third-party, and (possibly) breaches the ePayments Code?
I don't know, and I believe a change is afoot, but still...
The Growth Curve: Why Years 5-8 Matter
Here's where the UK's journey gets really interesting for Australia.
At the 3 year mark (2021), the UK had approximately 2.5-3 million users.
At the 5 year mark (2023) - where Australia is now – the UK had reached 7 million active users.
Now at year 8, they're at 16 million.
That's more than doubled between years five and eight. So what does this tell us?
It tells us that growth in Open Banking isn't linear. It's exponential once you hit critical mass.
The first few years are about building infrastructure, fixing bugs, getting providers online, and educating consumers.
But somewhere around year five, if you've done the groundwork right, things start to accelerate. Network effects kick in. More users attract more providers. More providers attract more users. Word-of-mouth spreads. Use cases mature from "technically interesting" to "genuinely useful."
Australia is right at that inflection point.
The question is: will we see the same acceleration?
We’re already seeing API calls double year-on-year (despite the majority of ADIs in Australia not actually / actively using Open Banking on the Data Recipient side) although it’s not easy to make an apples-for-apples comparison given the payments aspect in the UK which accounts for a significant majority of the traffic.
What Australia Can Learn From The UK's 8 Years of Open Banking
Lesson 1: Patience Is Not Just A Virtue, It's A Requirement
The UK's experience screams one thing: this takes time. Proper time. Not "we'll give it 18 months and see" time.
The first several years were characterized by infrastructure development, regulatory refinement, and early adopter experimentation.
Mass-market adoption came later, as services matured and compelling use cases emerged.
Australia needs to view its five-year mark not as a final report card, but as the foundation for what comes next. The groundwork is laid. Now comes the interesting bit.
Lesson 2: Infrastructure Enables Innovation (But Only When It's Reliable)
Once the technical pipes worked reliably in the UK, innovation accelerated.
The surge in creative use cases and payment innovations like VRP only happened after the basic infrastructure was stable and accessible.
Australia's CDR infrastructure is now operational and proven. We're positioned for the same innovation surge – if we can get the adoption numbers up.
Lesson 3: Critical Mass Creates Its Own Momentum
The UK's growth from 7 million to 16 million users between years five and eight suggests that adoption can accelerate dramatically once you hit critical mass.
This is where Australia needs to focus.
We need to reach that tipping point where Open Banking goes from "the thing some fintech nerds use" to "the thing normal people assume is just how banking works."
Lesson 4: VRP Shows What's Possible Beyond Data Sharing
Variable Recurring Payments representing 16% of UK Open Banking activity is a big deal.
It shows how Open Banking evolves beyond simple account aggregation and data sharing into sophisticated payment use cases.
Australia should be looking hard at how similar innovations could unlock value and drive adoption here.
Lesson 5: Regulatory Certainty Is Everything
The UK's Data (Use and Access) Bill, currently progressing through Parliament, addresses a critical need: long-term regulatory certainty.
If you're a fintech startup or a bank deciding whether to invest serious money in Open Banking, you need to know it's not going to be switched off in two years. The UK is moving toward a permanent regulatory framework.
Australia needs the same level of certainty to attract sustained investment and innovation.
Lesson 6: Consumer Education Needs To Be About Benefits, Not Features
Both countries struggled with consumer awareness early on.
The UK learned that explaining Open Banking in terms of concrete benefits – better budgeting tools, easier switching, improved access to credit – resonates far more effectively than technical jargon about APIs and data portability.
Australia can learn from this.
We need fewer explanations of how the CDR works and more demonstrations of what it does for people.
Wych client One Click Life is a great example of how Open Banking can unlock unprecedented financial opportunities for everyday Australians.
Lesson 7: Competition Actually Drives Value (Who Knew?)
The UK's competitive fintech ecosystem has been crucial to Open Banking's success.
Australia's relatively concentrated banking market presents both challenges and opportunities. We need to ensure third-party providers have fair access and can compete effectively.
Otherwise, we're just creating a fancy new system that reinforces the status quo.
Looking Ahead: What's Next For Both Countries
The UK is entering a new phase. With 16 million users and robust payment volumes, the focus is shifting from proving the concept to maximizing economic potential. They're expanding into open finance (investments, insurance, pensions) and working on long-term sustainability as initial regulatory mandates evolve.
The government reckons the smart data economy could be worth £10 billion over the next decade. That's not monopoly money.
Australia faces a different challenge: translating solid infrastructure into widespread adoption.
The UK's trajectory suggests years five through eight can be transformative if the conditions are right.
For Australia, this means:
Doubling down on consumer education (the right kind)
Making sure compelling use cases are visible and accessible
Fostering a genuinely competitive ecosystem of third-party providers
Maintaining regulatory certainty so people will actually invest
The technical infrastructure is there. Now we need to get people using it.
The Bottom Line
Eight years for the UK.
Five years for Australia.
Different approaches, different timelines, different challenges.
But the fundamental promise is the same: giving consumers control over their financial data to access better, more personalized services.
The UK's journey shows what's possible with time and persistence. Sixteen million users didn't happen overnight. They happened through years of iteration, improvement, and building trust.
Australia has built strong foundations. We've learned from the UK's early mistakes. We've created a broader framework that could scale beyond banking.
The question now is: can we accelerate past the adoption challenges and hit that inflection point where growth becomes exponential?
The UK suggests we're right at the cusp.
The next few years will tell us whether we can pull it off.
And I, for one, reckon we can.
Fintech Ford
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